Nowhere Fast
by cloudwalk
Summary: Astoria's POV on marriage to Draco Malfoy, based on the song 'Nowhere Fast' by Ally Heman/Rhodes. Dramione
1. compliments

_"Everything about you_  
><em>Is beautiful-<em>  
><em>Your hair your laugh your smile and your eyes"<em>  
><em>And "hey you looked really cute<em>  
><em>Today"<em>  
><em>Are those honestly<em>  
><em>The only things<em>  
><em>You know how to say<em>

It was getting late.

The night sky outside was inky, and the draught had long since blown cold the fire burning in the stone fireplace. The room was cold, ice cold.

And still she waited, her white hands folded neatly in her lap. Any observer would have thought her a filial wife, a pious woman waiting for some sort of Coming. And they would have thought her so serene, so placid as she waited quietly in the cold. But they would have thought wrong.

They would have missed the tears glistening like dew on her long lashes, and the way her fingers plucked at the lush velvet fabric of her robes. They would have missed the way her eyes raked the wall to check the time, only to realize _this is not home, she is not home, this is her new home now_, and Malfoy Manor doesn't have any clocks.

Time doesn't exist here.

A fire suddenly ignites in the fireplace, huge green whorls of flame, and she knows he's coming now. And her heart contracts, pulls closed, and at the same time she longs to open her arms and feel the way she did when they got married. A loud sucking noise and he comes whirling into the picture, stepping immaculately onto the marble floor. He never stumbles.

"Hello, love," he says, looking right through her. She stands up and lets him come close enough to put his lips to her hair. "You're beautiful," he says, "have I ever told you that?"

"Every day," she replies evenly.

She wonders if he tells her that every day, too.

_Don't get me wrong_  
><em>I appreciate it<em>  
><em>But the problem is<em>  
><em>Even you don't believe it<em>  
><em>And it wouldn't matter<em>  
><em>If either of us did<em>  
>God she's so lucky<p>

* * *

><p>I realize this is super short, and I realize I haven't been updating Don't Stop Believing. I seem to work better on oneshots :( TO BE UPDATED<p> 


	2. charms

_I'm so sick of the way  
>That you lead me on<br>But I apparently have no self-respect  
>Thought I was stronger than this<em>

She remembers her first day at Malfoy Manor.

It was a Tuesday evening, around five o'clock. Even though the mansion itself didn't have any clocks and she couldn't see how on earth they kept time (_maybe__they__didn__'__t__belong__to__this__earth_), the Malfoys were a stickler for punctuality and always turned up at the right time, maybe even earlier.

They weren't married yet. There were still a few more days to go, _a__few__more__doubts__to__iron__out_. Till then, she was just Astoria Greengrass, and she was standing in the hallway.

It reminded her a bit of Hogwarts. There was that grandiose quality about it, the high ceilings, the golden frames with ancestors that scowled and whispered. But it was cold, so cold, and she waited, and listened.

"I'm sorry we couldn't come earlier, Mother," she heard his voice saying, in a room a few doors down from her. The door was closed, but the air was so still she thought she could hear anything. Maybe even his thoughts. "I picked Astoria up right after work."

"After the marriage it will be alright, Draco," an older woman's voice replied. Astoria wondered for a moment if she would sound like her soon, someday. Old, hallowed, resigned, reigning. Like a queen who is used to gilded hallways and empty hearts. "You will stay in the West Wing?"

"Of course." Something in his voice changed, and she wondered what was it about this house that made him act the way he did. Or maybe it was their engagement; Draco was certainly not the beguiling charmer he was during their days at Hogwarts.

She realized it soon enough, of course. He hated everything about this place. He hated the stuffiness, the portraits, and most of all he hated that room at the entrance which tingled with fear and blood and stifled screams.

Maybe- just maybe- he hated her too.

_Thought I knew better than to jump head first  
>Into what I knew<br>Was solid ground  
>And it ain't goin' nowhere when I come down<br>Thought I knew better than that  
>But I just keep goin' nowhere<br>Nowhere fast_


End file.
